Chapter 13 Brynn #4
Brynn stumbled back, gasping. What she had thought was another of the massive roots was the tail of a great serpent, covered in dirt.
It was just the end, tapering off in front of her.
She’d been so overwhelmed with the oily, putrid presence of the monsters, she hadn’t been able to realize one was right under her.
After everything, she had thought she’d experienced as much horror as she possibly could, but it seemed there was a new depth of horror she had not yet reached.
Guin barked, her little puppy cries seeming so futile in the face of the great beast.
With the Wulfwir looming over them, Brynn panicked. Or perhaps she was just desperate.
She stabbed Hróarr’s sword into the scaly hide in front of her. The sword was sharp, but the hide was tough. Brynn was only able to jab it in a hand’s breadth or so.
All the same, the entire tail whipped up, striking the ceiling of this strange cave. Brynn kept a tight grip on the hilt and the sword yanked out as dirt and rock rained down around them.
Guin howled in terror, bumping against Brynn’s legs in the confusion.
Brynn was blinded, but she could still feel the sources of ka to tell her where Hróarr and the monsters were.
Rushing forward, Brynn grabbed Guin’s scruff and tucked her under the arm holding the sword, groping blindly through the smog of dirt. Choking and coughing, she found Hróarr.
The Wulfwir let off a howl. The strange serpent, whatever it was, made no sound as it dropped its tail back down.
Grabbing Hróarr’s arm, Brynn gripped as tight as she could and dragged him along. Hróarr crawled off the ground with her support.
The way they had come from was blocked by the two monsters, but Brynn followed her awareness of the river. All rivers had a little ka in them and the telltale movement gave it away. The river would lead them out, she knew that from her brief glimpse of it from beside the Grandfather Yew.
Brynn handed Hróarr’s sword to him in the dusty haze. They reached the edge of the river, scrambling along the narrow ledge beside it. Guin wiggled free to race ahead, yipping to make sure Brynn followed. Brynn pressed one hand to the wall as they plunged deeper into the dark.
Hróarr regained his footing. “Lead me,” he ordered, passing his left hand back so she could guide him along the passage.
Brynn took his hand. “It’s chasing us.” She sensed the tainted power of the Wulfwir loping after them.
Hróarr responded with something in Valdari.
The monster squalled at their backs. Hróarr slashed and hacked as the creature came within range, his battle cries loud enough to be heard even over its shrieking.
Brynn cast spells over her shoulder, lashing for the beast. Some of her attacks landed, but most did not.
Everything was chaos and those searing red eyes burned at her back.
She couldn’t get another clean strike for the creature’s neck and none of her other attacks seemed to permanently injure it. She had to kill or nothing.
A plan began to form as they fled, and Brynn dragged power back to herself. She spooled ka like thread, weaving her intent into it with feverish determination.
Feeling her way along the wall, Brynn spotted light ahead. Hope surged in her chest. They burst out into day, but with the monster close at their backs.
“Run!” Hróarr ordered, shoving her ahead of him.
Brynn stopped and spun around. “Move!” She raised her hands, releasing the spell she had been preparing.
Hróarr was wise enough to obey, ducking to the side as Brynn let go.
Her power sliced into the roots of the tree over the entrance, shearing through the supportive web that held the stones and earth in place.
Red eyes flashed just as the ceiling of the tunnel buckled and folded, crushing the Wulfwir beneath a cascade of stones and earth.
The creature lay half buried, still snarling and yowling its fury, too-long arms grasping for them.
“I don’t think they can cross the stones,” Brynn panted. “Spell…containing them.”
Guin whined and barked, pacing around Brynn, not knowing what to do.
Hróarr muttered another string of Valdari curses as he grabbed Brynn’s arm above the elbow, shoving her back toward the boundary stones. “Then run, stupid woman.”
This time, Brynn retreated uphill toward the stone markers, heart racing.
Hróarr bounded close at her heels, limping just a little. She might have to heal him later.
Brynn could hear the Wulfwir howling as it clawed itself out of the earth like a giant, demented beetle. She hadn’t run like this since the war.
The boundary stones loomed before them, their gaps wide and welcoming. A part of Brynn wondered if the Wulfwir would be stopped by the markers. The creature was enraged into a frenzy. Could these old spells really hold them? Brynn supposed they would find out.
Hróarr cursed again. “It’s loose. Move!”
Arms pumping at her sides, Brynn forced her body to find another burst of speed. The cold air stabbed into her lungs with each breath and her side ached, but she had to run. She had no choice.
Guin bounded along beside her, struggling to move as fast as she could. The dyrehund bolted, heading straight for the trees as fast as her little legs could carry her.
The scrambling thud of the monster came thundering after them. A scream tried to wrench itself out of her throat, but Brynn didn’t have the breath for it.
Hróarr barreled ahead of her, no longer trying to protect her back. He tore headlong across the field, leaving her behind.
Brynn didn’t have time to feel betrayal as the Wulfwir’s yowling came so close she swore she could feel its hot breath on her neck.
Hróarr crossed the boundary marker and spun around, sword held loose at his side. “Faster!” he yelled back to her.
Brynn was trying. With a last burst of speed, she dove for the line that marked the boundary.
Guin careened past the stones and spun back around, whining at Hróarr’s side.
A claw hooked Brynn’s shawl, jerking her back.
Brynn screamed as she fell backward, toward the beast. She didn’t even have time to cast a spell before an iron grip caught her arm, yanking her across the barrier marked by the boundary stones.
Her shawl ripped off and pain shot through her shoulder as she crashed to the ground on the safe side of the boundary.
Brynn smacked onto the mud, dead leaves, and twigs breaking her fall. Panting, she spun around to see the Wulfwir looming over both her and Hróarr.
Guin let off a little howl, crawling into Brynn’s lap and licking her face. The puppy growled in the direction of the monster.
The misshapen wolf shrieked and howled, pacing back and forth between the boundary stones, but not going past them. The monster prodded and clawed at the earth, but the spells held. Even if the spells felt weak, they held for now.
Brynn crawled onto her hands and knees. She was lucky to be alive. All three of them were.
A great serpent, a she-troll, and a giant wolf, Cenric had said. It seemed that Valdar’s legends were not ready to fade into myth just yet.
Hróarr did not offer to help her up as he sheathed his sword, glaring at the Wulfwir. If Brynn had arrived a few moments later, they would have eaten him, he must know that.
Brynn stood, her shoulder sore from where Hróarr had yanked her across the last few steps. “You knew it wouldn’t cross the boundary?” Had he at least believed her in that?
“No.”
Brynn shook her head. “Then why did you stop running?”
Hróarr tilted his head toward the forest. “Let’s go.”
“What is it?” Brynn demanded, looking back to the squalling beast on the other side of the boundary.
“I don’t know.” Hróarr grated the admission like a curse.
“Your men called it Wulfwir.”
“I…” Hróarr blinked at the aberration on the other side of the stones as if he still didn’t believe that it was there.
“Is it them?” Brynn dared voice her suspicion out loud. “The monsters fought by the First of Fathers?”
Hróarr watched the creature before them. “I don’t know.”
“The child said that the tree had been weakened and that’s how she and the Wulfwir were able to break free and kill it.”
Hróarr went very still at that. He pointedly did not look at her.
“You mentioned Ovrek did something. Could he have caused this?” Brynn would not want to accuse Ovrek of anything to his face, but it seemed possible.
“He couldn’t have.” Hróarr’s voice lacked conviction.
“What else, then?”
Hróarr made a snapping motion with his wrist. “It’s time to go.”
Brynn didn’t move. “Do you believe me about anything?”
It went without saying what she meant. Brynn wanted to know if Hróarr thought she had killed the concubine.
Hróar’s jaw locked tight. “That’s for my king to decide.”
Brynn already knew the direction that had been going. She was not optimistic about what Ovrek might decide.
A tense moment stretched between them.
Brynn could escape Hróarr, and they both knew it. She could incapacitate or even kill him. The problem was that she couldn’t live forever in this wild land of monsters.
A part of her had hoped that saving his life would at least earn her some credibility, but it seemed that not even that would make him vouch for her.
Had he heard what the child fiend had said about “the father”? If so, Hróarr didn’t acknowledge it.
It was possible Brynn could be pregnant. Cenric had been making frequent and passionate love to her for more than half a year. Brynn had started to fear something was wrong, though Cenric had not yet expressed impatience.
The monster might know in some way, though how it would have known when Brynn couldn’t yet tell was unclear. Brynn hadn’t seen any signs, but it was still possible. She would probably need at least a week before she would be sure and then…
But until she was sure, she wanted to be careful with herself.
Swallowing, Brynn considered her options. “I will…come with you.” She glanced back to where the Wulfwir was now gnawing and tearing her shawl to shreds.